Commodity, Crop Insurance & Credit Programs

On Wednesday March 9, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the released of the Investments report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The report, entitled The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Working for Rural Communities, shows that the investments are renewing the Nation’s rural areas and providing benefits to the rural […]

On Tuesday, March 1, NSAC delivered two letters to Senate offices in opposition to the sustainable agriculture cuts contained in H.R. 1, the House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR). The first letter was signed by 154 grassroots organizations from throughout the country, while the second letter was signed by 35 national conservation organizations. The common thread, running […]

On Friday February 25, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Assistant Attorney General Tony West announced the establishment of a program to resolve the claims of Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers who assert that they were discriminated against when seeking USDA farm loans. The program provides up to $50,000 for each Hispanic or woman farmer […]

Call Your Senators In the early hours of Saturday, February 19, the House of Representatives approved a government funding bill that would slash more than $60 billion from the federal budget for the last half of fiscal year 2011. The bill (H.R. 1) unfairly targets programs that serve sustainable and organic farmers. It makes steep […]

On Monday, February 14, President Obama submitted his budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. For sustainable agriculture interests, the budget proposal is a mixed bag, with big cuts to farm bill conservation programs, though mostly good news on discretionary spending accounts. Mandatory Farm Bill Spending President Obama’s proposed budget calls for deep, […]

Post updated 2/15/11 Following a revolt by some of their rank and file on Thursday, House Republican leaders on Friday night released their draft bill to cut government funding for the remainder of the fiscal year that end September 3 by a significantly larger amount then they planned for earlier in the week. The bill […]

As often happens following elections that shift the party in the majority, the new Republican leadership of the House Agriculture Committee reorganized the panel’s subcommittees. As we previously have reported, Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) is the new Chair of the Full Committee, and former Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has been named Vice Chair. There are […]

(Updated Version — 12/15/10 — of Original Post) The Senate Appropriations Committee released the long-awaited omnibus, government-wide appropriations bill the afternoon of December 14. The $1.1 trillion bill is a less than two percent increase over FY 2010, $26 billion less than what the Obama Administration requested in February, $18 billion more than the long-term […]

USDA’s Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers will be holding a public meeting next Wednesday and Thursday, December 15th and 16th, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. The Advisory Committee makes recommendations to the Secretary of the USDA on the development, administration, and improvement of USDA’s beginning farmer programs. The meeting will […]

On Wednesday evening, December 8, the House passed a combined Continuing Resolution-Food Safety bill by a vote of 212-206. All Republicans and 35 Democrats voted no. The Continuing Resolution would fund all government functions for the remainder of the current fiscal year 2011, which ends September 30, 2011. The current short-term Continuing Resolution expires on […]